In Another Life
by angie9281
Summary: Troubled by the nagging suspicions and thoughts that have bothered her for some time, Sookie is given the chance to see if it would have been possible for Eric to have shown any interest, let alone fall for her had she only been a ordinary human. given the chance to experience the night she met him in a slightly altered way, will the end result leave her reassured or heartbroken?


**Chapter 1**

They lay in the hammock under the sun, warm air kissing their skin. She, in a white bikini ensemble and he, in a pair of old basketball shorts not worn on him since the time that he had had amnesia and it was some of the few articles of clothes in the house Sookie could find for him. He had wanted to wear nothing, but she had to remind him that there were still laws in place.

"Indecent exposure? Your brother would charge me with such a thing? With all of this on display?" Eric gestured to his long and lean body and the bracelet on his right wrist, the faerie artifact given to him by Niall that allowed him some day walking power shone under the light. It would only work for a few hours a day, charged by the sun. it would warm, almost vibrate against his skin when time was nearing its end and he would need to retreat back into darkness. Until then, he stretched his impressive legs out, his toes lapping against her legs teasingly.

"You are so…..damn incorrigible!" she said. "Jason would never dare have you arrested, ;et alone charged with being naked out wherever…he's smart enough to know better. Still, you do need to behave."

"Me? Behave? You do know who you are talking to, correct? I am far from being one to….behave. Where is the fun in that?"

She giggled. "Actually, you have been better lately, sine your family expanded….and I know things haven't been easy, what with the twins spending most of their time in Faery and with all the other drama and danger we've faced. But I wouldn't change anything if I had the chance. Would you? Change things if you had to go back and change things? Or at least want to see how things could have turned out differently?"

"How far back? Because as you know, my history goes back…way back."

"Yes, but really, in that long period of time, are you going to tell me there's nothing you would not change? Or want to know what could have been, if possible?"

He thought a few moments. "Perhaps I would change a few small things…but if I were to do that, how would that affect where we are now? Come on, if you'd never walked into my bar that night, we may have never met and our lives could have been alarmingly different. And knowing what I know now, not for the better. But I am thinking there are things you would gladly have done without."

"There's some things I could have lived without….Maryann,,,,,the witches…being locked in your basement before getting fang raped." she paused, taking in the abashed look on his face before reassuring him she forgave him for that.. "I was angry about you using me to try to kill Russell by leading him into the sun. I thought you were only wanting your own vengeance. But now I know you were wanting to stop him from being a threat to me. But…even if I had still come into your bar that night, plainer than the nose on my face, would you have paid me any notice? "

"What? How could I not notice you?" he said as he took her hands gently.

She had to clarify her pondering. "What if I came in to your bar that night…as a mere human. No telepathy, no light power…just being a little helpless human? I have always wondered about that in the back of my mind and I don't know, everything that's happened lately, I have found that question tearing me up inside." she blurted out, unable to meet his gaze. "I am not looking for starting a argument, and I know you do love me and I you…but what if I were just….human. No powers at all."

There was a long thoughtful silence. "I love every part of you. Your compassion. Fierceness. Honor. I could go on and ….." he trailed off. Even the extremely confident Viking was feeling a little trepidation over the way this discussion seemed to be going. "doesn't it matter that in there here and now that we are together and how I feel?"

She went to say something but refrained from doing so. She looked upset, sad even. Before things could get any more tense, there was a flash of light and there they were, their now eighteen year old looking twins who had come into their own thanks to the help of Niall, and more recently Eric and Sookie. They had come by several times over the past month since the last crisis had ended and they had gotten some good family time in. still, Adele and Hjalmar were dirty blonde and hazel eyes, the perfect blend of their parents. After a brief round of hugs and a embarrassed Sookie running inside to put a robe on, the twins sat on the steps while their parents took the porch swing.

"So….apparently something is troubling you…grandpa said that he sensed something may be up. That we needed to come and help you. He's on the way, he had some errands to do." Adele said. "So what's wrong this time? One of you trying to poke a hole in your being happy, like has happened in the past? I'm looking at you mom, after all the times you pushed dad away and chose Bill instead."

Sookie had to appreciate her daughters bluntness. Pam had certainly appreciated it the other night when they had a little get together, a get to know each other kind of soiree that had finally allowed the twins to meet their extended family. Of course Nora, Tara, Willa and Godric had been thrilled to welcome the new members of their proud family. Even Pam, who was impressed by the tales of their battle in Faery. Apparently the twins had become even fiercer in their trainings under Niall's tutelage. "Yeah…I've screwed up….but I learned from my stupid mistakes. It's just….we were talking about the choices we have made in life and if there was anything we would change."

"If you could go back, any changes would likely keep us from have existing." Hjalmar pointed out with a smirk that was so like his father, it was impossible for Sookie not to smile and roll her eyes.

"It's not so much the choices, so much as you worry about that if it all were to happen all over again, save for you being what you were and have become, that he wouldn't have given you a second thought." Adele pointed out.

"A intelligent child, isn't she? Wise beyond her years….however I sense those pendants are waning of their magic and you two need to return to Faery before any aging happens. You remember there are only a certain amount of hours you have to come to visit and judging by the small visits you have taken here and there, your monthly quota is about up." Niall had appeared out of nowhere and the twins, though appearing reluctant to leave, bade a farewell for now to their parents. At least the twins were comforted that their parents could come and go as they pleased easier than they. Niall had done the best he could to craft objects that would protect them from aging further than they had already. But things had come about in a strange way, with strange magic and as a result, even Niall's' talents were limited at allowing the twins to visit this realm without again further, a side effect of their conception. Having been rendered human temporarily with a spark of being a vampire still within him, coupled with Sookie's magic, it had created a unique situation. And so the twins could never live on Earth, not for more than a day, anyway. Still, they were all grateful that they were not cut off from each other. As she escaped her thoughts of thinking back on how they had gotten to this point in their lives, Sookie hugged her grandfather.

"I am glad to see you." she said. "You really mustn't-"

"Worry? It is my duty to worry about you, my dear. I have come here to show you a different reality. You still have doubts about him, yet fear to admit to speak them fully. You fear rejection and losing him. Yet again." Niall was as blunt as Adele had been. "I can show you, help you, to see that his love is true, no matter what you are or were. In this alternate world, only you will know it is not this world you are in now. But a different reality. Back several years ago."

Eric didn't like where this was going. "This….isn't permanent? It won't put here in any danger?"

"Of course not. But she needs to see the truth and by crafting what I am about to do so, she can put to rest the fears and worries she has continued to try to bury since the day you two truly began to come together. Which was, whether you know it or not, was the day you remained with Godric the morning he met the sun. you awoken something in him that he thought was lost and he began to feel something towards you that was frightening to him and he tried to push it away. But there was no fighting it, was there?"

"So you're going to send her to some other-"

"Everything will freeze in place here whilst she explores the alternate world. And she will come to see that there was always more to you that night than some frightening, intimidating vampire on that throne. Though I will see to it that some details of that night are changed. you will not arrive at Fangtasia with Bill, but rather, someone else. Are you ready? Oh, and only when you prove to yourself and to him that you were meant to be will I stop the spell and you will return here. don't worry, you will not be killed, if that is what you are fearing. I will be looking in on you."

Sookie allowed herself to nod and then there was nothing.

 **Chapter 2**

Things had changed in the blink of an eye. Literally. Where moments before she had been with her loved ones on her own porch, she was now seated in her little yellow car in the parking lot of Fangtasia and even from this distance, she saw Pam working the door, checking ID's and looking well, vampish. It was then she realized she wasn't in the car alone.

"Sook, you ok? You look like you ain't even here. Having a daydream? Or night dream, since its night?" Tara was dressed in jeans and a tank top, human rather than the vampire Sookie knew she was to inevitably become. "It will be fine. it's time for us to take chances and I for one, just want some decent enough drinks."

Wobbly, shuddering in disbelief that she was here and the changes she had already seen even before getting out of the car, she followed her best friend to the entrance where they were, of course, checked for their ID. At this time, Sookie knew that Tara and Pam had not even met yet and even Tara seemed a bit spooked when Pam made her fangs drop down. "What's the matter, you think we'd have some bouncer at the door? I could take down ten of them in ten seconds."

"I bet you could." Sookie answered with a nervous smile. "I'm Sookie." she tried to make small talk with the vampire she knew, but here in this, well, whatever this was, didn't.;

"Good for you. Mind moving along so I can let more fangbangers in?" Pam replied with a snarkiness that was comfortingly familiar to Sookie. Without a second glance at her future friend/family member, Sookie allowed Tara to drag her by the arm into the raucous nightclub, the loud music blaring and drinks flowing. Her eyes went straight to the dais where the familiar throne sat, flanked by two smaller seats that she remembered sitting on with Bill when they were inquiring about the murders back in Bon Temps. And to her displeasure, she saw the reappearance of the duplicitous bartender Long Shadow. Shuddering at the recollection of when he tried killing her when she figured out he had bee the one stealing money from the bar, Sookie made a point of not having him wait on them and instead, was relieved to find a second vamp working the bar. As she and Tara settled at a small table, sipping fuzzy navels, they watched as Pam walked up onto the dais, but not alone. Moving the throne so it would be just right, she bowed her head reverently as the long haired version of her future mate appeared before her eyes. And she felt a mixture of emotions within her.

"Sook, you daydreamin again or…..oh. Damn. That one is pretty hot, ain't he. If he is who I think he is though he's not one to be messed with." as she was saying this a desperate fangbanger had his phone smashed and was sent flying backwards with a kick to the face. Cringing at the brutality of it and just unnerved still by reliving something the same yet different made Sookie's skin crawl. Watching the man skitter way to nurse his wound, her wide eyed stare for a moment, met a pair of blue ones that were familiar yet strange, as there was not any of the warmth or love she had known over the past years. Here, they were complete strangers.

"Sookie, have you had a little too much to drink?" Tara asked. "Because I am in the mood to do some dancing and I ain't going out there with you being all wobbly and spacey. How would that make us look?"

"Like we were back at one of our high school dances. You know I have my clumsy moments." Sookie laughed at the memories of back in the day. But her mind went back to the task at hand. To prove to herself that he would have fallen for her even without her magic. She had always had a love hate reltionship with her powers and it had become even more complicated after she had become a faerie-vamp. It seemed like it had taken the very person she was looking at now to get her to realize she was meant to be more than some human, that her powers, what she was was not anything to be fearful of but to embrace. And she had come to do so. And now, he was a stranger, as she tried to make sense of this altered night when she supposedly was to meet the intimidating Viking for the first time. With things changed so slightly, yet enough for her to notice, how would she ever be able to gain his attention, to try as slyly as she could, to get him to take a interest in her, for more than just a snack.

 **Chapter 3**

She excused herself from their table and went to the bathroom, feeling somewhat pleased she was wearing the same dress she had worn before. The girl in the white dress, she remembered. "Niall, I could sure use even a scrap of information as to how to proceed….and I have Tara with me to boot…." Sookie muttered to herself as she finished retouching her makeup.

And in her head, she heard his voice. " _I promised to watch out for you, here in this alternate, yet real reality. Some things have changed but much is the same before. Remember how you came to arrive her that first night, why you were here. Even powerless, you have potential."_

She frowned as his voice vanished from her mind and she remembered that the bartender was embezzling. "The money…..here it may be unknown so far that Long Shadow is stealing….but how am I to prove that without getting myself killed? No magic, nothing. Just…me." Sookie thought and thought.

" _The connection you two have transcends through anything. Convince him of where you are from, who and what you are. Things will work out for the best if you can believe it."_ her grandfathers voice rang in her mind again as she exited the bathroom. What she did know was she needed to get Tara out of here, should something go south. Here in this reality, neither had any supernatural inclinations whatsoever and she didn't want Tara to have to pay-yet again-for a decision Sookie had made.

"Come on, let's keep drinking." Sookie said, elbowing Tara when she returned to their table. "We never get the chance to do this and we can always call a cab."

"Or your brother, though I think there's a million other places he would rather go than here. Still, even Jason would suck it up to get you out of trouble."

"You too." Sookie reminded her BFF as she pretended to drink shot after shot, managing to fool Tara long enough so Tara was the one who wound up inebriated. And soon, a relieved Sookie was sending Tara back to Bon Temps in a cab while she had to figure out how to work some magic in a situation familiar, yet not. There was no Bill to protect here in this version, and of course, she was well aware of her lack of magic. She had a cell phone…"

Noticing that Long Shadow was seemingly making a move to retreat to a back room behind the bar and knowing the whole of Fangtasia like the back of her hand, Sookie waited a moment before rounding the building from the outside, sneaking through a back entrance as a familiar figure emerged, looking glassy eyed and slightly shabby. "Hi Ginger." Sookie said to the bemused looking employee.

"Oh….hey….do I know you?" the woman said as she went to smoke a cigarette. She had clearly been glamoured and no doubt there was trouble inside.

"I was looking for Long Shadow…he inside there?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah….but I don't remember what he was doing. It is like I just went blank, isn't that funny?"

Knowing that Ginger had been consistently glamoured by her beau as well as his associates, Sookie also knew Ginger was protected and well cared for . Still, here in this situation, she somehow felt some anger towards Eric for allowing her to be used as she had been, glamoured so repeatedly that this job was all she was seemingly able to do anymore. Serving him and working at the bar. That, she vowed, would come up in conversation in the near future, provided she could get out if this one here and now. Entering through the back door that Ginger had left propped open with a brick, no doubt to keep her from being locked out and forced to return through the front, Sookie snuck into the rear of the bar and followed her instincts. Pulling her cell phone out, she maneuvered enough so she could crane her arm around the doorway of a office that she was extremely familiar with.. And she was as quiet as could be, as she recorded the footage personally, watching as the Native American vampire helping himself to the contents of the safe, a gutsy move, she admitted, to take from someone, then she felt a cool arm wrench her away and back out to the rear of the building and there she stood, frozen as she came face to face with Pam.

"Snooping around the back….not your fault I suppose. Ginger is a little….addled." Pam said, fangs out.

Sookie stood her ground, trying to pull away from the far stronger vampire. "I wasn't snooping,

I was trying to help you. There's a thief here and-"

"How could you possibly know about that…only Eric and I know of the embezzler and we were getting to the point where we were going to hire someone…..you have something to do with it!" she bared her teeth and got right into the face of the startled Sookie. "But I think before your sentencing I will let him play with you first."

 **Chapter 4**

She was taken unceremoniously down into the basement where she was promptly chained up and her cell phone taken, placed on a small table. There was a strong smell of blood and she knew well the things that had transpired here in the future and shuddered to think of the things that had happened in the past.

"So….what do we have here?" a voice spoke as a tall figure walked down the stairs into the dimly lit basement. "I have a presence to keep up in the bar and I do hate being pulled away from the little people who wish to look at me."

She said nothing as he came closer, pacing before her as a grinning Pam went back upstairs, no doubt to keep an eye out for any other potential thieves. Left alone with Eric, Sookie braced herself, knowing full well what he was capable of. And since they hadn't even met and things were different here in this reality, she had her doubts that she would last long, though she remembered Niall was looking out for her. The chain was loose around her neck but certainly it didn't allow her to go far as he crouched down before her, taking her chin and forcing her to look up at him. "Well, well….so apparently Pam thinks you are involved in the theft of money from my bar. You likely do not know who I am or you would have been smarter on who to try to thieve from." he brushed a long strand of blonde hair from his face, allowing her to see him better, not that she forgot how he looked. Aside from the longer hair and the way he looked at her now, it was the same Eric but vastly different.

"I…..heard rumors about there being a thief here and wanted to help. And I got some footage on my phone. Believe me, the last thing I want is to get into trouble with you. My name is Sookie."

"And do you know, my dear…..Sookie….. who I am?"

She went on to reveal his name, title and his storied past, allowing for as little detail as possible. Not wanting to divulge just how much she knew of him, she then realized that as she was not anything supernatural, then surely, she was likely no longer immune to glamouring. She had to hope for the protection of Niall or that it wouldn't come to any glamouring.

"So…..you're a historian of my life?" Eric replied, more curious than anything but there was a slight taunting to his voice that was making her ever more anxious.

"I….there's a lot more to me than you know. The fact is I came here to meet you and warn you of the thief. I didn't think you'd believe me….you are, after all, a ancient Viking warrior, aren't you? Not about to trust people freely, save for a couple of your employees. Pam and Ginger, mostly Pam. Ginger is….a little frazzled,"

His expressionless face cracked ever so slightly, the ghost of that smirk she knew so well appearing for a moment. "There is something about you that….intrigues me. And that is a rare accomplishment, what with you being what you are. Mortal. Human."

"Look at the footage on the phone. I tell you, that bartender is the one stealing from you and unless you believe me, he will keep on doing it. I don't have anything to gain from lying to you."

He looked her over carefully and frowned. "It's funny….I have killed people for less than this and yet I want to believe you. There is something…sweet and innocent…familiar….." he came close to her face and closed his eyes, smelling her sweet smelling hair. Then he snapped back to his cool and stoic self. "I will look at the phone in my office. Wait here." he made a joke that made her cringe, feeling once more that she was certainly not out of the woods. If she was relying on her charms and innocence to win over someone she had already done in her real world, she had no idea just where she stood right now.

 **Chapter 5**

"I don't trust her. How many desperate fangbangers have entered her trying to pull some kind of scam to either get their five seconds of fame with you or to just get attention by doing something stupid here in the club." Pam was pacing in his office as he replayed the video over and over on the phone.

"It is clear he has stolen. I counted what was in the safe when I left the office and checked again when I returned just now. He has no reason to get into the safe, let alone take anything from it. That is your job. I only gave him the combination as a afterthought. That if something came up, at least he could access the safe and the contents. He has proven loyal these past years….."

"That's just it! He saved you from a attack by some anti vamp humans and glamoured so many others all in the sake of keeping you as a enigmatic figure. Yet this chick, this….Sookie…seems to know a lot about you and you want to trust her over someone we have worked with for years?"

"Close the bar. Kick all the guests out and send Ginger home. I want Long Shadow brought to me in the main room where we will settle this once and for all. I will bring her up when you are both ready." Eric ordered Pam who looked annoyed but obeyed. As he heard her loud voice cursing and shouting for everyone to leave, he watched the video once more and smelled the lingering scent of her on the phone. He had doubts that someone as she seemed was there for nefarious purposes and he was inclined to believe her, unlike Pam who had a innate distrust and disdain for humans. There was something about this girl, he thought, something she wasn't telling him. And before he brought her upstairs, he would get it out of her, one way or another.

 **Chapter 6**

Chills were going down her spine and tears were forming in her eyes as she wished to return to her own reality, but yet wanting to know the truth. If he could have ever cared for her, loved her, if she had been a mere mortal. And as painful as this was shaping up to be, she steeled herself as he came back downstairs, leather clad as usual but the long hair framing his face giving him a even darker, more dour demeanor. She found herself scooting back to the wall, not ready to face him again. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked, knowing she was safe, that Niall could just zap her back to her own world. "Get it over with if you are, I am not scared of you or dying. If you knew all the shit I had been through before coming here…I learned from the best how to be brave. How to be a fighter. A survivor."

He looked at her intently. "And who did you learn from?"

"You." Sookie replied sticking her chin out defiantly. "My story is something you wouldn't believe, how I wound up here in this bar tonight. A night I lived once already, albeit somewhat differently."

"I get it…..you're high. Or on V." his face darkened as he inspected her closer. "No…you don't seem the type for that….but humor me. How have you learned from me, when we have not met before this night?"

"In another life….I was something….different. Not like other girls. I was always made to feel ashamed of my differences and though I still had trouble with that, I got to know you. At first I saw you as I do now. Cold, violent. Unfeeling. But I know better. I know the good in you and that you can love."

He drew back from her and without warning struck her across the face. "You do not know the first thing about me!"

She was unrelenting. "My grandfather sent me here to prove to me that even though in this existence I am human, that you could still find feelings, towards me. And not the hungry want to eat me kind. But….love. You and I grew close." she proceeded to give him a very abbreviated tale of their exploits and how they had finally come together, united as a couple."

He struck her again but when he went to go for a third strike and saw her face, bloodied, scared and yet, that special something….he almost winced at what he had done. Biting into his wrist he put it to her mouth. "I suppose you aren't a stranger to this, then, if what you say is true."

"Glamour me if you don't believe me." she said, a bit unnerved by the prospect. She had played being glamoured several times in the past but the possibility of being actually glamoured, able to spill her guts against her will….it was a daunting thought but she had to do whatever she needed to do to not only help this Eric but to return to the Eric at home she missed.

Nothing happened for a long, tense moment as she looked as fearlessly as she could into his eyes, bracing for her mind to temporarily not be under her own control. Instead, he offered her his blood again. "I don't give this to just anyone and I….regret striking you. I was…out of line." he seemed to be unsure of the words coming from him, as if they were worse he rarely, if ever said. And she knew his pride, that he hated admitting his errors and in this unique situation, she was even more understanding. Feeling the sting from his blows heal, she was surprised further when he left for a moment, retuning with a wet towel, gently cleaning her off from the blood she had shed as well as that which she had taken from him. "I don't understand why I am doing this…." he said with a frown, shaking his head. "I am not used to….caring for anyone save for a few others in my circle and yet a stranger such as you….."

"We Aren't strangers. Not where I am from." she replied softly as she allowed him to unchain her.

Pretending not to hear her, he let her get to her feet, trying not to admire her tanned skin and other…assets….she possessed. He was all for the voluptuous kind and she had it in spades. "If we find you innocent, then you will be let go. Pam will probably want to glamour tonight out of your head, for our own good. But I will not allow it. However, should you prove yourself a incredible liar and you are somehow involved in the theft….." Eric left the threat unsaid but she knew well enough it was there.

"Let's get this over with then." she said, a look of determination on her face and she held herself with grace as she made her way upstairs, seemingly fearless and it was that air of bravery that made him impressed by her even more.

 **Chapter 7**

They had gathered in the empty bar area, as they had once before. That time, Sookie had used her power to peek into the minds of several people, including Ginger, to see what they knew of the embezzled money. This time, it was only the four of them there, Pam watching her like a hawk, still wary and distrustful of her supposed non involvement with the theft.

"What's the matter, you look a little pale? Hope he didn't play with you too hard?" Pam smirked at Sookie who was feeling less confident for some reason. It was, she supposed, the bizarreness, the shrillness of the situation, reliving something that had happened, yet it had been twisted into a test for her to pass. And thus far, she figured she was glad to at least be in one piece still. Sitting herself at a table a fair distance from the clearly annoyed suspect bartender, Sookie heard her grandfather's voice call to her again.

" _Keep the belief alive, you are as safe as if you were back in your home. Nothing will happen. Should you not accomplish what you hope to, you must accept that and move on."_

She was stubborn. She couldn't fail in this, she had to know for sure if he had loved her for more than her powers. "So….where do we begin?" she asked with wariness.

"I have watched the video and it does appear you stole some cash from the safe." Pam was addressing their suspect. Cool as a cucumber, Long Shadow leaned back in the chair he rested in.

"You clearly are starting to side with some….human that you barely know…after all I have done for you two. All the trash I have single handedly removed from this place. For your own good. Ask yourself who you can actually trust." he paused, knowing he was caught. For good measure and his warped sense of amusement, he nodded to Sookie. "She was in on it all along. I asked her to tape it for me to see how clever I was. To show the world that you two are pretty gullible." he nodded towards Pam and Eric with a smug expression. "If I go down, then so does she."

It was a rather weak defense, to be sure but the tension in the air, the way she knew how things had gone in this reality with the long history between the three vamps and the brief time she had known them here. Here, Pam clearly distrusted and resented Sookie and would likely make a meal of her or worse, given the chance. And as for Eric? She didn't know which way he would turn, knowing how loyal he and Pam were to each other and though he had made a couple of kind gestured down in the basement, she also knew she needed to be alive to face the judgment, whichever way it swung.

Long Shadow smirked as he watched Pam and Eric smirk as they looked at Sookie like she was little more than dinner. But swiftly they rounded on the bartender who paled even more, of that were possible. Dodging their arms and fangs, he attacked Sookie, violently and without holding back. Memories of when Bill had saved her from the attack the first time flickered through her mind as she screamed in pain, before the vampire was thrown off of her by the others. But it hadn't been quick enough and Sookie was on the borderline of being mortally wounded., her neck suffering a deep gash and blood flowed from it.

"I don't care what you do with him but I want him dead. I can cover up one missing vamp in my area." Eric ordered Pam, who looked eager to deal with the traitor. Disappearing down to the basement, Sookie heard the beginnings of the torture, which she knew, knowing Pam, would be drawn out. Things turned fuzzy in her vision, thought she knew she was not really going to die. Yet, she was still in pain and emotionally battered on top of all she had been through tonight. She closed her eyes as she sensed a figure approaching, a slight jostling sensation leading her to believe she was being carried somewhere.

 **Chapter 8**

"I didn't want it to go exactly that way." she heard a voice as she came too, the familiar taste of his blood entering her mouth. Opening her eyes as if in a haze, she looked up into his blue eyes, eyes that had gained something familiar. Concern. Surely she had seen none of that the first time Long Shadow had been killed, he had merely stood back, disinterested as the vampire had exploded into a blast of blood all over her. At least she hadn't had to witness his demise-or wear it-this time around. "How do you feel?"

Sookie blinked. "you saved me….you could have just let me die…why did you let me live?"

He looked at her and it seemed even he couldn't understand why. "Maybe I believe there is some kind of connection between us. I do believe you came here to help. But I can't…I don't understand the way I feel about you. And I don't…hate feeling this way, like I want to."

She had to smile and breathed a slight sigh of relief. Wanting badly to spill everything to him, that she was from another reality, that they had a history together…she knew in order for what needed to happen to do so, she needed to play it as she had thus far. She knew he had suspicions of her, considering she had already divulged some of his life to him. "I just want to go home and be back with my loved ones."

He helped her get to her feet as his blood finished working its magic slightly shaky he took her hands gently as she made it to her feet. "You have people that miss you." he said plainly.

She looked at him intently. "Yes. And I miss them."

"You've suffered…..I see it in your eyes. Lost much in your life, yet go on. A survivor." he said. "I have come to recognize that in others and to be honest, it is a very short list. No humans on that list, save for you. You truly are a enigma. And I mean it in a good way. I could see to it you are brought home safely." he added as a afterthought, feeling that the walls long put up around his heart were cracking. But he didn't care.

"I need to do something. I….feel it." she put her hands around his neck, a very familiar gesture for her yet he tried to back away. But something kept him in place. She pulled his face down to hers and as their lips met, she felt something racing through her and as she opened her eyes and saw the shock in his eyes turn to a calmer, almost dreamy look, she knew it had worked. And before her eyes, this Eric changed slowly into the one she knew, short hair and all.

"What…where am I?" he asked as there was a light and they stood on the porch once more. Back to normal, she thought with a inner chuckle. Normal was such a relative term. And there too, was Niall, who clapped with approval.

"Well done Sookie." Niall said as she went to hug him. "I know it was difficult but you wanted the proof and so you got it. 'A consequence of the magic I used to make this possible was that he remembers everything that the other Eric did and said."

Sookie wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "So….you needed proof to know if I loved you for you or if it was just your magic, your blood that drew me to you." he said, arms crossed defensively. He Didn't look angry, but almost….hurt. "You still doubted me….us."

She hung her head, feeling a sense of shame and embarrassment come bubbling back to the surface. This was clearly a touchy thing to talk about and not just for her. "I had to know." was all she could say, walking into the house, not wanting to start a fight after the evening she had had. "Goodnight Niall. Give the twins a hug for ok, ok?'

Niall took that as a cue to leave and with a nod, he vanished. Sookie tried to retreat upstairs, rubbing her eyes wearily, frustrated that he couldn't understand her reasoning for why she had to know. It seemed like it was a reasonable thing, to want to know for certain he could have or ever care for her without her magic. For being a mere human. But before she made it half way up the stairs, she walked straight into his chest and looked up, her weariness and not wanting to fight etched on her face but to her surprise, he was smiling, with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you get your answer you wanted? Did you get the closure you needed to move on and have one less thing bothering your sweet little blonde head?" he looked like there was more he wanted to say to her, but to her surprise and relief, he was actually using some restraint.

"I….did, yes." she replied. "And I am sorry for the doubts I had, but I just….I needed to know."

He said nothing but held a hand out for her to take. He led her back downstairs, down into the cubby where they could be left alone. She glanced at the bed expecting something else but seeing another.

"What's with the silver chains? Tell me you've got something planned in that sick mind of yours." Sookie couldn't help but smirk. He looked deadly serious instead as he removed his clothes. Ever stitch. Of course, he was far from bashful. Normally, she would be drinking up the sight but something was nagging at her. "What are you going to do?"

"You wanted to see proof I could love you without your powers. And you found the answer. Well, how about the tables be turned? Could you feel the same about me without mine? The closest I can get to being powerless is being silvered."

The idea of him actually willing to torture himself to prove a point gave her chills and she watched as he got situated on the bed and ignoring the burning of his hands, he set to work draping the silver over himself, if he was trying to finally put the situation to rest, he had just done it, she grabbed the silver and pulled it all off of him. "Please…..I get what you're trying to say. I think-no, I know-that if I had met you, if you were a mere mortal, that with your personality and everything else you have, I would have fallen for you. you're so…electrifying even weak. And I have seen you at your weakest, most vulnerable. In the church when you were willing to give yourself up for me and Godric…..I could go on. And I came to love you for that bravery."

Saying nothing, he threw the silver aside and put his black jeans back on, nothing else. "I would love for you to go on about how great I am…..but for now, I was thinking of retreating…upstairs? This bed is barely big enough for me, let alone both of us."

"You are too much. Let me take care of some of that smugness, shall I?" she stood on tiptoe, feeling lighter since her troubling thoughts bad been assuaged, with a kiss, she laughed as she vanished in a bright light and from here in the cubby, he heard her laugh and the sound of clothes being removed, he raced upstairs to join her, relieved that this latest, albeit non life threatening crisis was at an end.

 **The End**

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE-Thanks for reading, I am working on another story now and I am thinking it is going to be a several part story as things keep coming to me and I want this one to be good…hoping everyone who has read my stories thus far have enjoyed them. I may not have as many reviews and followers as others but feel free to spread the word on my stories. Even if only a couple people read and review, I plan to keep writing my stories and hope to get better with each one. Thanks again and please leave reviews!_


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